Shatner Talks Details of Young Kirk-Spock Books

It is William Shatner's belief that when Kirk and Spock first encountered one another, they didn't like each other very much.

"They meet and have no fondness for each other. They're bound by their mutual rebellion," Shatner explained to The Edmonton Sunof his plan for a series of books about young Kirk and Spock, which he hopes might form the groundwork for the next Star Trek film or TV show. Because Vulcans live much longer than humans and there is virtually no canonical information on Kirk's birth, it has been speculated that Spock could be several years older than Kirk, but Shatner imagines them as near-contemporaries growing up together. "It'll be an interesting read and hopefully it'll be an interesting series, as we find out how the boys became men."

Elsewhere in The Sun, the Kirk actor discussed the upcoming documentary How William Shatner Changed the World, in which he documents the influence Star Trek has had on everything from cell phone technology to space exploration. "Unlike the tenuous link between a former U.S. vice-president and the World Wide Web, it's actually pretty easy to trace a direct line from the exploits of Shatner...to the inventions that make our lives simultaneously easier and more complicated," noted the article.

However, Shatner conceded that he is himself something of a technophobe. "I, for one, don't like e-mails and e-messages and things like that," he explained. "I would rather pick up a phone and talk to the person." He added, "I don't do computers," and said he keeps hoping to find a phone that will allow him to get his messages without confusion.

It pleases Shatner that some young people think he's cool, because "One man's cool is another man's obscenity." He said he tries to balance comedy with "respect" on Boston Legal, where he plays the sometimes buffoonish Denny Crane. "It's the same thing, this jaunty character that Shatner seems to have become, I've got to be careful that I'm not too stupid about it."

The two-hour documentary How William Shatner Changed the World debuts in Canada tomorrow on the Discovery Channel. There is more in the Edmonton Sun, including Shatner admitting that he did suspect his Star Trek co-star George Takei (Sulu) was gay.